Commissions
I trade through Robin Hood and other brokers that charge per share instead of fixed rates... making the trading costs either irrelevant or negligible relative to trade size. If you're trading at a broker with fixed commissions, you should make sure that your trade size is substantial enough that commissions don't eat up all your potential profits.
Once your trade size is large enough, it's worth paying fixed commissions for improved trade execution.
If you try out Robinhood using my referral link, you could earn some free stock.
Trade Journal
These are actual trades, using a fairly aggressive strategy that I briefly mentioned in What is your Trading Style?
I have many more 'paper' entries, but these are the few that happened in an actual trading account. I will talk more about the actual parameters of my strategy as time goes on.
Today I Bought
I did not open any new Long positions today.
Today I Shorted
PCAR @ 67.37 (Covered at $69.61)
Today I Closed
The stop on PCAR was moved to 69.61 after adding on to my position, and then it moved against me and stopped out. When I add onto a position, I track and update the stops together... so stopping out of the new position also stopped out of the original position.
PCAR @ 69.61
EPR @ 74.91
Open Trades
While everything else about an open trade is established at entry, the ‘stop loss’ order will be periodically adjusted over the life of a trade. The idea is to move the stops at key intervals and let the profitable trades keep running.
Several stops were moved today as the positions began to hit milestones in my favor.
| Ticker | Entry | Direction | Size* | Date | Stop Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPM | 25.5141 | Long | 8.43% | 7/17/2019 | 26.30 |
| CLVS | 12.45 | Short | 2.75% | 7/17/2019 | 12.11 |
| GWPH | 161.88 | Short | 4.88% | 7/17/2019 | 169.89 |
| WPM | 25.99 | Long | 8.32% | 7/18/2019 | 26.30 |
| BAX | 82.94 | Long | 14.10% | 7/18/2019 | 81.16 |
| ALNY | 75.44 | Long | 6.04% | 7/18/2019 | 71.42 |
| CLVS | 11.66 | Short | 2.80% | 7/18/2019 | 12.11 |
| EW | 195.84 | Long | 11.75% | 7/22/2019 | 190.51 |
| PEP | 130.33 | Short | 14.34% | 7/22/2019 | 133.03 |
| EWW | 42.12 | Short | 10.95% | 7/22/2019 | 43.29 |
Total Long 48.64%
Total Short 35.72%
Positions sizes are approximate, and given as a percentage of trading account. Position sizing is based on perceived risk, with effective Risk Management as critical to strategy. Use of leverage is intended, so % of portfolio will sometimes exceed 100%
Closed Trades
The strategy closes out losing trades quickly, but winning trades run as far as they are able. That's painful at the beginning: the first few trades print losses before any wins come in, and it makes the strategy look terrible until enough trades are closed. With losses limited to < 0.50% of capital on each trade, I would need 20 consecutive losses to face a 10% account drawdown! That's incredibly unlikely.
| Ticker | Gain/Loss | Size | Days Held | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSX | -2.72% | 10.52% | 0 | 7/17/2019 | 7/17/2019 |
| EBAY | -2.54% | 11.97% | 0 | 7/18/2019 | 7/18/2019 |
| ADM | -2.52% | 12.69% | 1 | 7/18/2019 | 7/19/2019 |
| CSX | -3.90% | 8.36% | 1 | 7/18/2019 | 7/19/2019 |
| THRM | -5.28% | 7.68% | 1 | 7/18/2019 | 7/19/2019 |
| PCAR | -1.25% | 10.31% | 5 | 7/18/2019 | 7/23/2019 |
| PCAR | -3.32% | 11.45% | 0 | 7/23/2019 | 7/23/2019 |
| EPR | -2.55% | 12.42% | 1 | 7/22/2019 | 7/23/2019 |
Gain/Loss given as percentage on notional value of trade, with size a percentage of trading account. G/L x Size = % change of account value based on trade outcome. Days Held shows as 0 when a position was opened and closed in the same day (day trade).
Evaluating all position outcomes from Closed Trades, over a large enough sample, could support an approximate calculation of total portfolio return. Actual results may vary.
This is my trading journal. Results are published for entertainment purposes. This is not financial advice. This is not legal advice. This is not even advice.
